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2 Advent

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord from the heavens;praise him in the heights above.2 Praise him, all his angels;praise him, all his heavenly hosts.3 Praise him, sun and moon;praise him, all you shining stars.4 Praise him, you highest heavensand you waters above the skies.

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,for at his command they were created,6 and he established them for ever and ever—he issued a decree that will never pass away.

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,stormy winds that do his bidding,9 you mountains and all hills,fruit trees and all cedars,10 wild animals and all cattle,small creatures and flying birds,11 kings of the earth and all nations,you princes and all rulers on earth,12 young men and women,old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,for his name alone is exalted;his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,[b]the praise of all his faithful servants,of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 149

Sing to the Lord a new song,his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;let the people of Zion be glad in their King.3 Let them praise his name with dancingand make music to him with timbrel and harp.4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;he crowns the humble with victory.5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honorand sing for joy on their beds.

6 May the praise of God be in their mouthsand a double-edged sword in their hands,7 to inflict vengeance on the nationsand punishment on the peoples,8 to bind their kings with fetters,their nobles with shackles of iron,9 to carry out the sentence written against them—this is the glory of all his faithful people.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 150

Praise God in his sanctuary;praise him in his mighty heavens.2 Praise him for his acts of power;praise him for his surpassing greatness.3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,praise him with the harp and lyre,4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,praise him with the strings and pipe,5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,praise him with resounding cymbals.

5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?Why, Jordan, did you turn back?6 Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,you hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,at the presence of the God of Jacob,8 who turned the rock into a pool,the hard rock into springs of water.

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, Lord, not to usbut to your name be the glory,because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say,“Where is their God?”3 Our God is in heaven;he does whatever pleases him.4 But their idols are silver and gold,made by human hands.5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,eyes, but cannot see.6 They have ears, but cannot hear,noses, but cannot smell.7 They have hands, but cannot feel,feet, but cannot walk,nor can they utter a sound with their throats.8 Those who make them will be like them,and so will all who trust in them.

9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield.10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield.11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:He will bless his people Israel,he will bless the house of Aaron,13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,both you and your children.15 May you be blessed by the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,but the earth he has given to mankind.17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,those who go down to the place of silence;18 it is we who extol the Lord,both now and forevermore.

Woe to the Complacent

6 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,you notable men of the foremost nation,to whom the people of Israel come!2 Go to Kalneh and look at it;go from there to great Hamath,and then go down to Gath in Philistia.Are they better off than your two kingdoms?Is their land larger than yours?3 You put off the day of disasterand bring near a reign of terror.4 You lie on beds adorned with ivoryand lounge on your couches.You dine on choice lambsand fattened calves.5 You strum away on your harps like Davidand improvise on musical instruments.6 You drink wine by the bowlfuland use the finest lotions,but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;your feasting and lounging will end.

The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel

“I abhor the pride of Jacoband detest his fortresses;I will deliver up the cityand everything in it.”

9 If ten people are left in one house, they too will die.10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[a] asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For the Lord has given the command,and he will smash the great house into piecesand the small house into bits.

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?Does one plow the sea[b] with oxen?But you have turned justice into poisonand the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar[c]and say, “Did we not take Karnaim[d] by our own strength?”

14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,“I will stir up a nation against you, Israel,that will oppress you all the wayfrom Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.”

5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.[a]

The Birth of John the Baptist

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s Song

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,because he has come to his people and redeemed them.